1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to material handling devices, and more particularly but not by way of limitation, to a self-supporting combination folding and nesting cart for bulk handling and shipment of commercial goods.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the mass distribution of commercial products, the cost of handling the products in transporting systems is a very large factor in determining the pricing structure of those products. As the price of labor, energy and hauling devices has increased over the years, and especially in the last few years, there have been many developments aimed at reducing the distribution costs of materials by streamlining the flow of such materials. It is a generally conceded fact of material distribution that the price of distributing goods is greatly affected by the number of times that a product is handled, that is, the number of times a product is moved manually from the point of manufacture through warehousing and ultimate retail outlet disposal. It is known that one of the most effective means of minimizing such handling expenses is to maintain the goods insofar as possible on the same material handling pallets or carts.
Experience with trucking and other like distributing methods has taught distributors that effective cost control requires high utilization of transportation space both to and from the point of distribution. That is, the return trip of the transporting vehicle should be utilized as efficiently as possible, eliminating such needless items as the return of empty high volume carts.
While pallets are widely used in view of the economy considerations above, there are many situations in which self-supporting carts must be used in order to provide mobility for the goods, and in fact, many schemes of distribution rely entirely on self-supporting carts because of the ease and simplicity offered thereby.
Of necessity, foldable nesting carts have been developed to take advantage of the efficient stacking characteristics of pallets while providing high mobility of operation. Prior art self-supporting carts that nest for high stacking efficiency generally have had good industrial acceptance as material handling devices. By "nesting", it is meant that the carts have the capability of being spaced compactly with carts of like construction. Usually, in order to nest the carts compactly, portions of the carts fold in a manner that reduces the bulk volume of the cart.
The present invention presents a self-supporting cart that improves the nesting efficiency of the carts while maintaining strength and durability in a lightweight cart. That is, carts constructed in accordance with the present invention take up a minimum of space when nested; the carts can be moved while nested; the carts retain their stability while nested; the carts may be constructed of lightweight yet strong materials; and the carts nest easily, requiring no operator experience to nest or to remove from nesting.
Traditionally, foldable carts have been very noisy, as the component parts usually have some freedom to bounce and fret during cart movement. Noise created by such unnecessary component movement generally increases with the age of the carts. On the other hand, carts constructed in accordance with the present invention are very quiet in comparison to prior art devices, and the construction is such that noise levels are not appreciably increased with cart ageing.